1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographic printing system including a film reader for reading photographic image of a photographic film, a printer for printing the photographic image on an image recording medium based on the photographic image data obtained through the film reader, a writer for writing at least the photographic image data in a loaded optical disc of the WORM (Write Once Read Many) type, and a controller for controlling the writing process of the writer.
2. Description of the Related Art
With such photographic printing system as described above, the photographic image recorded in a photographic film is read by the film reader and then based on the photographic image data thus obtained, a photographic image is formed on an image recording medium such as a print paper, whereby a photographic print is obtained. In this, in parallel with or independently of the making the photographic print, there is often provided a service for the customer for writing the photographic image data in an optical disc of the WORM type. Here, “WORM optical disc” refers to a type of optical disc which allows only one time writing into its predetermined writing area, not allowing erasing of the data once written therein and allows reading of the data therefrom for as many times as desired. Such WORM optical disc includes the so-called CD-R and DVD-R.
In the above-described service of writing photographic image data in an optical disc for the customer, it would be inconvenient if this were done for only the writing of the photographic image data. It will be convenient if the customer can display the written photographic image data on e.g. a monitor of the personal computer system of the customer. Then, in order to provide this advantageous possibility, it is usually done to write also, in the same optical disc, a display processing program to be used for monitor display of the written photographic image. Incidentally, since the WORM type optical disc allows writing of additional or different data in a different writing area thereof after first writing operation thereof, it is also possible to write, in advance, such display processing program in the optical disc. To cope with this situation, the photographic printing system is often configured to be capable of handling both the first type of optical disc which is available in the market with the display processing program written therein in advance and the second type of optical disc which is available with no such display processing program pre-written therein. Hence, the operator of such photographic printing system needs to check whether each optical disc to be handled has such data pre-written therein or not and then inputs the result to the photographic printing system.
The photographic printing system of the type operable to write photographic image data and a program at one time in an optical disc is known from e.g. Japanese Patent Application “Kokai” No. 2002-57975. In this, its data recording section is adapted for recording in a CD-R, not only photographic image data and audio data, but also a multimedia playing program for allowing synchronized output of the photographic image data and the audio data.
However, in the case of the above system capable of handling both types of optical discs, the first type pre-written with the display processing program and the second type without such program pre-written therein, if the operator errs in the input of the disc type to the system, this can lead to such inconvenience as the display processing program (which is to be provided as an additional service for the customer) being not written into the optical disc at all or a further (different) display processing program being written erroneously into the optical disc in which the display processing program has been written already, so that the commercial value of the optical disc will be significantly impaired.